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<p> This dissertation is an investigation of a theoretical problem&mdash;the determination of truth and being in a work of literary fiction&mdash;in the context of a momentous event in the history of mathematics&mdash;the discovery of a consistent non-Euclidean geometry. Beginning with the first interpretations of the philosophical significance of non-Euclidean geometry to enter the Russian cultural sphere in the 1870s, I analyze how the works by three Russian authors&mdash;Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Nabokov, and Daniil Kharms&mdash;integrate the principles of mathematical truth into their construction of a fictional ontology and methods of fictional truth evaluation. Each author, I argue, combines their own aesthetic program with the changes in the philosophy of mathematics underwent in their respective eras and historical contexts. The diversity of these contexts provides the variables, against which this theoretical problem is analyzed. </p><p> The first chapter deals with Dostoevsky's interpretation of non-Euclidean geometry and its philosophical significance expressed in Ivan Karamazov's rebellion against God in <i>Brothers Karamazov.</i> I argue that Dostoevsky deploys the Euclidean/non-Euclidean binary to juxtapose two methods of fictional truth evaluation&mdash;a traditional model, obsolete in light of the principles of non-Euclidean geometry, and another model, which Dostoevsky embraces in <i>Brothers Karamazov</i>, based on the paradoxical and yet true axioms of the new geometry. I phrase the distinction in the terms of possibility and necessity: the new model of fictional truth evaluation is for propositions which are true in all possible worlds except the actual. In Chapter Two, I draw upon previous analysis of Nabokov's <i>The Gift </i> and the mention of Lobachevsky's geometry in the internal biography of Chernyshevsky, to argue that the narrative structure of <i>The Gift </i> returns to the Euclidean/non-Euclidean binary as introduced by Dostoevsky, but re-interprets the otherworldly according to Nabokov's own aesthetic praxis and the interpretation of non-Euclidean geometry by late-nineteen and early twentieth century geometers and physicists. Nabokov applies concepts of non-Euclidean geometry and space to the actual world. This analysis provides a framework for interpreting the space and time of <i>The Gift</i> according to structures suggested within the novel itself. The third chapter investigates Kharms's interpretation of the significance and meaning of geometry in light of the impact that non-Euclidean geometry had on mathematical propositions as a means of describing possible states of affairs. I place Kharms's fictional objects, such as the red-headed man of "Blue Notebook no. 10," and implications to truth evaluation in "Sonnet" and "Symphony no. 2," in the context of anti-Kantian theories of truth and logic, which arose in the period around the turn of twentieth century.</p>

This thesis examines concepts of history and culture in six texts published between 1986 and 2006, as they relate to the loss of Russia’s future, according to Mikhail Epstein, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The works, paired by decade in three chapters, are Vladimir Voinovich’s Moscow 2042 (1987) and Andrei Bitov’s “Pushkin’s Photograph” (1989); Andrei Lazarchuk and Mikhail Uspenskii’s Look into the Eyes of Monsters (1998) and Tat’iana Tolstaia’s Slynx (2000); and Sergei Luk’ianenko’s “Girl with the Chinese Lighters” (2002) and Aleksei Kalugin’s “Time Backwards!” (2005). Though the authors are typically associated with different genres, all works make use of the cognitive estrangement characteristic of science fiction to forge a parable of current conditions, and thereby gain new insight into questions of history and culture. Given the nature and mood of the fall of Communism, apocalypse (or utopia, another end to history) is the dominant myth informing these visions, a further heuristic tool of science fiction. Through the conventions of the genre, notably the novum (Darko Suvin’s term for a new element shaping the imagined world) and its counterpart in Epstein’s kenotype (an expression of new social phenomena), the works typify their respective periods of perestroika, the post-Soviet 1990s and the early twenty-first century, as well as imagine social alternatives that move toward Epstein’s concept of a proto- era, a future for Russia after the future. What emerges from a unified study of these texts is the value their authors find in the tools of science fiction for renewing imagination and coming to terms with the unknown. To recognize the enduring potential of the future, its incompleteness and unknowability, is to challenge the very idea of the end of time – be it apocalyptic, utopian or postmodern. / Cette thèse examine les concepts de l’histoire et de la culture en six textes publiés entre 1986 et 2006, en relation avec la perte du futur Russe, selon Mikhail Epstein, suite à l’écroulement de l’Union Soviétique. En trois chapitres, les écrits sont classés par décennies comme suit : Moscow 2042 de Vladimir Voinnovich (1987) et Pushkin’s Photograph d’Andrei Bitov (1989); Look into the Eyes of Monsters d’Andrei Lazarchuck et Mikhail Uspenskii (1998)et Slynx par Tat’iana Tolstaia (2000); Girl with the Chinese Lighters par Sergei Luk’ianenko (2002) et Time Backwards! d’Aleksei Kalugin (2005). Malgré le fait que les auteurs sont habituellement associés à différents genres, l’ensemble de ces textes se servent de la caractéristique d’aliénation cognitive que la science fiction apporte afin de forger une parabole des conditions courantes, et ainsi acquérir un nouvel aperçu dans l’histoire et la culture. Étant donné la nature et l’athmosphère de la tombée du Communisme, l’apocalypse (ou l’utopie, autre fin à l’histoire) est le mythe dominant qui informe ces visions, un outil d’apprentissage supplémentaire de la science fiction. A travers la convention du genre, notamment le novum (terme utilisé par Darko Suvin pour décrire un nouvel élément formant le monde imaginaire) et son contrepartie kenotype d’Epstein (une expression d’un nouveau phénomène social), les écrits exemplifient leurs périodes respectives de perestroïka, les années ’90 post-Soviet et le début du vingt-et-unième siècle, ainsi qu’imaginer des alternatives sociales qui se rapprochent du concept de proto-era d’Epstein, un futur pour la Russie après le futur. Ce qui émerge d’une étude unifié de ces textes est la valeur que les auteurs trouvent aux outils de la science fiction pour renouveler l’imagination et venir à terme avec l’inconnu. De reconnaître le potentiel résistant du futur, l’incomplet et l’incon

This thesis aims to analyze the similarities and differences in how identity is constructed by the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament regarding the Polish membership and the potential Turkish membership of the European Union. The construction of identity is analyzed through a social constructivist perspective where identity is constructed by distinguishing ”us” from ”them”. The research metod used is a qualitative text analysis. The arguments of identity are taken from the Commission’s and the Council’s documents, as well as from the debates of the European Parliament. The arguments of identity refer to the official accession criterias of the European Union, as well as to inofficial criterias formulated by the members of the European Parliament. Arguments used are for example that Polish and Turkish standards are not the same as the European standard, that the European norms need to be integrated into the Polish and Turkish constitutions and that Poland and Turkey are too poor to become members of the European Union. The result also shows that the construction of a European identity built on a common culture has had the greatest impact in the European Parliament and the European Commission.